When we were kids, we had a card game called Authors. I
think the object was to be able to name the
works of famous authors. At any rate, there were three titles
that always seemed especially enticing:
Idylls of the King, The Heart of Midlothian and Tales
of the Alhambra.

Thirty years later, I picked this one up with some trepidation; we've
all struggled through classics of two hundred years ago, baffled by arcane
language & outdated usages. However, to my very pleasant surprise,
the book is terrific, combining an Iberian travelogue with delightful tales
and legends of Moorish Spain. Irving's travels are interesting enough
in themselves, but it is the tales, which have everything from flying carpets
to hidden treasure, that really make the book.

Websites:

See also:

Washington Irving Links:Washington Irving's English Christmas: An American essayist penned one of the best descriptions of the 19th-century British Christmas traditions, and in so doing helped restore many of these then-dying customs on both sides of the Atlantic. (James Munson, 12/25/04, British Heritage)